1. Top 5 Mac Apps - No 5

    Name: Freeagent
    Devices used: Mac, PC, iPhone
    Rating: 5/5

    Freeagent Screenshot

    I’m not good with numbers. I like the idea of them. No. I love the idea of numbers and spreadsheets, but for the life of me I am hopeless at basic math. So when it comes to finances, especially as I’m self employed, I have to rely on tools to help me.

    I was freelancing some years back and was essentially using Excel to manage my income and expenditure (Don’t worry, this is getting to a review of Freeagent).

    I drew up a general book keeping template based on one I downloaded from business link. I created spreadsheets that would help me with projections and monthly summaries, but they were all very much separate. Even though values were linked, it wasn’t as easy to produce the right information in a simple manner that would allow me to focus on running the business.

    So now I’m freelancing again, enter Freeagent. This tool makes accounting a joy. Yes, I said that. A joy. Every morning when I fire up Freeagent, I can immediately see where I am with the business. I can see any outstanding invoices, and nearly due payments, recent estimates, a bar chart for the previous five months income, any outstanding expenses and those all important tax dates. All this on my initial screen that I can customise as required. Priceless information at my fingertips.  

    What I’ve started using it for recently is for managing my time. Freeagent lets you input your time and relate it to specific projects. So I can display a full report of all the time I have spent on specific projects to make sure I am on target so I know whether I need to make that all important call to the client to say, all those changes you requested are pushing up over budget. I need more money!

    When linked with the third party iPhone app - Mobile Agent, this adds another ‘layer of beautiful’, on top of the whole Freeagent experience. Here’s why. I was out at a conference last week and went for a meal afterwards with a client. After paying for the meal I got out my phone, fired up mobile agent, took a photo of the receipt, entered a bit of info and Voila! My expenses have been updated and uploaded to the wonderful cloud.

    I could do the same for my time also. If I was working out of the office on a specific project, I could enter my time sheet there and then whilst it was fresh in my mind; all via my mobile.

    There’s so much more to it than that. Being self employed, my self assessment is extremely important -just to keep the government happy. Freeagent makes this a joy too. By clicking on Self Assessment option, then the current tax year, all my self assessment details are worked out for me. Now this is going to sound really weird, but I can’t wait to do my self assessment next year as its going to be so easy. And it saves on accountants bills.

    I could go on for ages, so just two last elements i’ll mention. That of automatic recurring invoices and bank reconciliation.

    So you’ve just worked out that its costing you a large amount in time each month, (and money if you’re paying a book keeper) to send out your monthly invoices for regular services you provide. You have a pile sitting there that you just haven’t got round to doing.

    Well, Freeagent allows you enter them once, select the frequency (monthly, quarterly, annual etc.) and using your existing template, send them out automatically. You never need to bother with them again!

    I have some set up for different clients, both monthly and annually and its a great weight off my mind knowing they will get sent out irrespective of how busy I am. And all can be -automatically- followed up with reminder emails and a thank you once paid. I’ve had clients commenting on how efficient I am due to this. They don’t know the half of it.

    The last feature I’ll mention is the bank reconciliation. One of the nightmares with accounts can be matching up your bank entries with your invoices so they tally up (I’m not an accountant so apologies to those that are for my bad terminology!). Freeagent allows you to import your bank statements and reconcile them with entries you’ve made in Freeagent (check Freeagent’s website to see if your bank allows it. I’m with HSBC and it works like a treat). I can’t tell you what a time saver this is.

    So all in all, I have been using Freeagent for about eight months now and its making freelancing this time round much more efficient than before. I should say that I can’t account for its use within limited companies or those dealing with payroll with the extra intricacies there will be in those situations. But I can vouch for its use within a self-employed environment, and for that I can’t recommend it highly enough.

    Have you had any experience of Freeagent -or other accounting packages? I’d love to know what you think.

    Oh and as a little bonus, you can sign up with this link (http://fre.ag/4157wozi)  or any link in this blog and we both get a 10% discount.

  2. Top 5 Mac Apps - No 4

    Name: Basecamp
    Devices used: Mac, PC, iPhone, iPad
    Rating: 4/5

    I write to do lists. I used to write them on post it notes or in a note pad. Then I progressed to reminder tools on my smartphone and then I wanted to do something with those lists to better manage them and myself. Enter Basecamp.

    To describe Basecamp as a glorified to-do list would be a serious injustice. Its so much more than that. That’s just that I was introduced to it.

    Basecamp describes itself as “Project management Software, online collaboration” tool. It allows you to manage projects; everything from weddings to parties, to more business orientated projects (unless weddings and parties are your business). I currently use it to manage all my clients projects. This could be designing logos, designing simple websites to more complex ones. I can set up each project with a to-do list so I have a standard process to follow through on each project to make sure quality remains high and I don’t forget anything. The older I get, the more I forget. I think that’s right anyhow…

    The beauty of Basecamp, is in collaboration. I allow my clients to login -just to their project and I can communicate with them to make sure communication flows well through the lifecycle of the project. I can post drafts that i’ve been working on for their feedback, I can post things they need to think about and they can also see the to do list which can have items assigned to them and automatically emailed to them 48hours before that item needs to be completed. This way we have a complete audit trail of any decision made.

    Another part of Basecamp I’ve started to use more of late is the Writeboards. These are genius. If you are editing a text based document of which you need feedback and contributions from other people, Writeboards allow you to do this. You post your initial draft and when your colleague view sit, they can then edit and Basecamp automatically saves another version. The original is still intact. You can thus have several versions each of which can be compared so you can view what’s changed.

    I have some of my clients posting all their content here to edit with colleagues before finalising for me to include in the website.

    Basecamp has the usual project management tools, such as a calendars for plotting milestones, the aforementioned to-do lists. It also has a document upload facility to share files, keeping everything together.

    Its invaluable for my business now. Clients appreciate it as they can easily see what’s going on and feel much more a part of their own project which is how it should be.

    Even if you’re not using it for business it can be a great too to organise events and various life stages. Its easy to use and apparently there are more developments planned for next year to make it even better.

    As a further benefit, if you sign up using this link you can save 10% from your first month!

  3. Top 5 Mac Apps - No 3

    Sparrow App

    App Name: Sparrow
    Devices used: Mac
    Rating: 4/5

    Sparrow is a simple email client that does what it needs to with minimum fuss. 

    I have used Apple Mail for years. Its worked pretty well. The user interface was good despite having to use add ons to make it display in a widescreen format. Lion, has sorted that issue now.

    But one problem I found; quite a critical problem at that. Since the OSX upgrade Mail seems to crash fairly regularly. I have noticed others saying this as well.

    I put up with it for a while as I didn’t know what else to use and the thought of constantly having to use web mail via my Google Mail accounts was not that appealing.

    As is the norm these days, someone on Twitter mentioned Sparrow, so I took a look.

    On first look, Sparrow is very similar to the official Twitter client on the Mac with an extra window extending out on the right to display the actual contents of the currently selected email. It is very minimal, hence the name taken from the tiny bird. (I’m guessing that’s why they called it sparrow…)

    It’s very simple to use, not to mention stable. I can’t recall one crash so far in the last few months. Its easy to setup your Gmail, POP3, IMAP, Hotmail, Yahoo accounts, and Sparrow can be up an running in a matter of minutes pulling in all your email.

    I also liked the popup message when you received a new mail. I’m not sure Apple Mail did that, but you can turn it off if it becomes too distracting.

    The latest version also integrates with Facebook to display your contacts’ avatars which is a neat touch. I couldn’t help thinking I was going to be getting more from the Facebook integration, rather than just pretty pictures. I half expected to be able to see my Facebook email/messages, but I’m sure Facebook wouldn’t be granting others permission to do that just yet.

    My only gripe with Sparrow, is the inability to drag and drop emails from one account to another. For example, I have my main work address to which some people send me personal emails. I would like to drag these into my personal gmail account, but unfortunately you can’t.

    It’s strange as you can see all your accounts folders, you just can’t copy from one to the other. Thus I’m left with having to use Mac Mail to fulfill this task, before going back to Sparrow to read the mail. Not ideal.

    In summary, Sparrow is a solid mail app, that does exactly what it should; lets you read your mail in an unobtrusive manner. Aside from the minor gripes, I am really enjoying reading my email from this little bird.

  4. Top 5 Mac Apps - No 2

    Dropbox Image

    Name: Dropbox
    Devices used: Mac, PC, iPhone, iPad
    Rating: 5/5

    If you put a gun to my head and said I had to choose only one top cloud based app, I’d probably be shot. Next to Evernote -which I have only started using this year, Dropbox is an essential product for me which, like Evernote, has completely changed my workflow.

    Dropbox is a cloud based app which simply provides storage space that can be synchronised with any computer having internet access. There are also specific iPad, iPhone, Android and Blackberry apps.

    Using Dropbox means that I rarely (if ever) have to fumble around looking for USB sticks and making sure I have the latest copy of the file to load onto another computer.

    Dropbox just works, and works extremely well.You can use it via the website or via a small download or app -depending upon device. On a computer it installs a folder which remains synchronised with Dropbox servers. This means you have all your files on your computer which is great if your Internet connection goes down, but as long as your connection is live, your files seamlessly sync. Add the app to any computer or device, put in your account details and you have access to all your files. Magic.

    The iPad app is particularly good. It looks like an FTP client -for those who know what that is. With your folder structure on the left, clicking on a file will display its contents in the right window if there is an available viewer.

    As a use case, I have used Dropbox many times when working from a different location, and a different computer to have easy access to my files.I can’t honestly think of any downsides to this. Like Evernote’s business model, the initial account if free, but should you need more space, you can purchase this. There are also several ways to get extra space for free! Check the website for more info.

    In summary, one of the best apps ever developed. Can’t say better than that.

  5. Top 5 Mac Apps - No 1

    Every now and again I get asked about the software or apps I use most. Well I will post a review of my current top 5, but in 5 separate posts. Here’s the first one. Enjoy!

    Evernote - Capture, Sync, Share

    App Name    : Evernote
    Devices used: Mac, iPhone, iPad
    My Rating: 4.5 / 5

    Evernote has led me to completely change my workflow. Now instead of using the Apple’s built in Notes iPhone app or Apple Pages or even Microsoft Word to make notes, I now exclusively use Evernote.

    Evernote is much more than a simple note taking app however. With Evernote you can effectively make your office paperless. Have a look at this video which shows how its possible with Evernote and a ScanSnap Scanner.

    I use Evernote (with my desktop scanner) to scan in receipts. You can store items in separate ‘notebooks’ and the main key to finding anything is tagging. Enter your tags for every ‘note’ you make, then you can find them with ease.

    Any ideas I have I initially input into Evernote and the real beauty of this is in its storing of data in ‘the cloud’ which synchronises seamlessly with all your devices so you always have your latest notes at hand.

    A quick use case: I needed to put together some documentation for a client the other week and had ideas going around my head whilst in bed! As you do. I made a new note on my iPhone Evernote app, then next day I was working away from my office with a friend and I had my iPad with me. I could seamlessly carry on editing where I left off the night before on a different device. Then finally when I got back to my office and needed to put everything together I could open the Evernote desktop app and copy and paste in to my final documents. Its great not having to worry about how I’m going to transfer data from one device to another.

    Another plus is that you can sign up for free which includes 60Mb of space. I’ve been using it since August and have used 12.4Mb so far. I’ve not even scratched the surface of what’s possible with Evernote. The premium version start at a reasonable $5.00 per month.

    The only downside I can think of is that if you are a fast typer Evernote -the iPad version, often looks as though it has frozen. If you carry on typing it does capture most of your keystrokes, but it seems to need a little time to catch up. I thought it was a processor speed problem, not that I’m an amazingly fast typist, but it doesn’t do this in Pages so it must be Evernote’s text processing abilities. If you do have a lot of typing to do, best not use Evernote. Use Pages, then copy and paste back. I guess it is called EverNote, not EverEssay.

    In summary, Evernote is an amazing app that changes the way I work for the better and seamlessly synchronises with all devices.

    I’d love to know how you use it. Let me know in the comments below.

  6. Automatic. Really? (Taken with Instagram at Homebase)

    Automatic. Really? (Taken with Instagram at Homebase)

  7. Just got my copy of Hardboiled web design - and I’m not afraid to use it! (Taken with instagram)

    Just got my copy of Hardboiled web design - and I’m not afraid to use it! (Taken with instagram)

  8. Love the archway curves in St. Albans Cathedral (Taken with instagram)

    Love the archway curves in St. Albans Cathedral (Taken with instagram)

  9. Roast Poussin with Pine Nuts at Emily & Jonny’s Wedding (Taken with instagram)

    Roast Poussin with Pine Nuts at Emily & Jonny’s Wedding (Taken with instagram)

  10. About to start Christmas Dinner! (Taken with Instagram at Watford)

    About to start Christmas Dinner! (Taken with Instagram at Watford)